WELCOME TO ARUNSIDE

We are delighted to welcome you to

our growing school

THE SCHOOL DAY

The children will belong to either Buttercup or Daisy Class, but will most of spend each day interacting with all their new friends

School starts at 8.45 am. When the pupils arrive, they will find a peg and a tray labelled with their names and a unique picture, so that they can hang up coats and PE kits and put book bags away.

We sit down for a drink and a snack at about 10am. Fruit/vegetable snacks are provided by the school, as is milk for children under 5 years of age. Milk for older children can be purchased and this can be arranged through the school office. If you would like to send your child with their own snack, please make sure it is named and a healthy one. During this time the children are invited to choose a reading book to bring home.

Playtime is 10.30 – 10.45 am and the children will be on the playground with children from Year 1 and Year 2. For the first few weeks they will be brightly clad in Hi-Viz jackets for easy recognition.

Lunchtime is 12.00 – 1.00 pm. The children will be first into the hall and will be helped to collect their lunches from the serving areas. Children with packed lunches will carry these down from the cloakroom area. Initially, we may go to lunch earlier than 12 o’clock as it can take a little longer to organise the children with their lunches in the early days.

The school day ends at 3:20 pm. We will only hand your child over to a designated adult. Please be patient with us as this may take some time whilst we get to know you all.

DROP OFF AND PICK UP

Teaching staff will open

this gate at 8.45 for the

children to come in to

start the school day.

We will lead the

children to this gate

at 3.20 and will hand

them, one by one, to

a designated adult.

This is the path that brings you into school.

It is only for the use of Reception families. Enter through

the blue gates on Blackbridge Lane. These gates open at

approximately 8.35am.

THE FIRST FEW WEEKS IN SEPTEMBER

We will be having a staggered start to the children starting school.

These arrangements have been made so that the EYFS staff have an opportunity to get to know the pupils and for the pupils to become familiar with the classrooms and school. We hope that this will make your child’s first day a thoroughly enjoyable one.

We have reduced the part time timetable this year in response to parental feedback, as many parents found this tricky to managewith work commitments and many pupils are already used to full days at pre-school.

September arrangements: (In your parent information booklet)

Monday 3rd September – INSET day (teacher training day, school closed for children)

Tuesday 4th September - Summer born children will attend from 8.45am to 12:00 noon (child’s birthday between April and August)

Wednesday 5th September - Spring born children will attend from 8.45am to 12:00 noon (child’s birthday between January and March)

Thursday 6th September - Autumn born children will attend from 8.45am to 12:00 noon (child’s birthday between September and December)

On Friday 7th September, all children will attend from 8.45am to 12:00 noon

As of Monday 10th September the children are invited to spend the whole day at school starting at 8.45am and finishing at 3.20 pm. If you feel your child needs a longer period of part time schooling then please speak to the EYFS team.

All pupils are given a copy of the lunch menu at the start of the term. Additional copies can be found on our website or on the Chartwells website. All pupils in EYFS and KS1 are entitled to universal free school meals.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

Girls can wear… Blue check summer dresses in the first

half term, and the entire summer term.

We recommend ones with zips unless

your daughter is particularly confident

with buttons.

Grey pinafores with white polo shirts

underneath or grey skirts/ trousers/

shorts with white polo shirts can be

worn throughout the school year.

Girls can wear school Navy Blue

cardigans or jumpers with the

Arunside logo, grey/white socks or

tights and sensible black school shoes

(boots can be uncomfortable when

sitting cross legged on the carpet).

Boys can wear…Grey trousers or shorts with grey or black socks throughout the year. School shoes should be black.

Navy Blue school jumpers with the Arunside logo and white polo shirts.

PE Kit

The children’s PE kit consists of navy blue PE

shorts and a coloured T-shirt based on their

‘house’ with either plimsolls or trainers. PE

T-shirts can be purchased from the office.

We will inform you within the first few

weeks which house your child is in so you

know which colour to buy. In the meantime,

a plain white T-shirt is fine.

Other Items

Fleeces are available for all children.

Ties are only worn in Key Stage 2

All uniform with the school logo can be purchased online from Broadbridge’s in Horsham, or indeed Horsham Tesco

EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE (EYFS)

‘Notable improvements in the quality of teaching during early years and key stage 1 in the past year have resulted in a dramatic increase in pupils’ outcomes at the end of Reception Year and Year 2, effectively reversing a marked decline in standards at the end of key stage 1 in 2016. Rising standards ensure that pupils are increasingly well prepared for learning in the next stages of their education.’ Taken from our Ofsted March 2018 Inspection about the provision for the youngest children at Arunside Primary School.

In EYFS there are 7 areas of learning in the curriculum. We will be doing a parent meetings to tell you more about the EYFS curriculum.

Children’s achievement’s are recorded in their learning journals or electronically using a programme called 2 Simple -2Build a Profile.

Each day, the children will experience a mixture of adult led and child initiated structured play activities.

Unless the weather in extremely inclement, we use our outside space everyday.

NEW TO RECEPTION, NEW TO SCHOOL

As well as the children visiting school in the next few weeks it is also an opportunity for you to come and meet the teachers and to hear about phonics, reading, mathematics and other areas of the EYFS curriculum in greater detail.

Next meetings:

Thursday 21st June – Visit for children. Arrive 9-9.15 at the school office. Collect children at 11.15am.

Thursday 28th June – Arrive at 9-9.15 at the school office. Parents meeting on Phonics, Maths and Special Educational needs. Collect children at 10.15am.

Thursday 5th July – Arrive 9-9.15 at the school office. Parents meeting on being ready for school and the EYFS curriculum. Collect children at 10.15am.

We will also be sharing ideas of things that you can do at home to support your child in school.

We want to aim high from the start and give children a range of different experiences. The knowledge you have about your child, about what they can do and what interests them, is very important to us.

COMMUNICATION

You will see the teaching staff twice a day when they collect your children in the morning and deliver them to you at the end of the day. We are always happy to talk to you but request that, unless something is really pressing, you wait until the end of the day, when all children have been handed over, to discuss matters with them.

We check the children’s communication books daily (as long as they are handed in!) These books can be used by you to record details of your child’s reading at home, to tell us about any achievements or magical moments and to communicate with you child’s teacher.

Parent’s evening in October is the first formal opportunity you will have to talk to the teachers. There are many more opportunities that you will be given to come into school to see work and attend special assemblies.

We communicate with parents using the school gateway. Visit www.schoolgateway.com or download the app to activate your account. The school office can help you with this.

We have a new website http://arunside.school please use this to find out any current information about the school.

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY

Even though, there is not a legal requirement

for your child to start school, until the term

after their fifth birthday, we would like them

to be in school as much as possible, and be

punctual. This simply develops good habits.

Prizes are awarded to classes and individuals

for high levels of attendance, with a trophy for

the best class at the end of each week.

The national average for Primary School’s in

England is 96%

Please notify the school office by 8.30am if

your child will not be attending school on that

day.

THE PTA (PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION)

The PTA are very active at Arunside. Should you wish to join and support then please contact the school office

They have donated thousands of pounds from fundraising events such as quizzes, discos, sponsored events, fetes and even a Firework Display

Through the PTA we have purchased computing equipment, books, a stage and an outdoor classroom amongst many other things

The PTA

Noticeboard is

located just here

NURSERY AND PRE-SCHOOL TRANSITION VISITS

Next week, Mrs Packham (Reception class teacher) is going out to local nurseries and pre-schools where we know there are children who are coming to Arunside in September.

WSCC do not tell us which pre-schools our new intake attend.

This means that, if you have not returned completed paperwork to school yet, we don’t know which pre-school your child may attend.

If your child does not attend one of the main local pre-schools, his/her important transition visit could be missed.

Please help us by writing your child’s nursery/pre-school on one of the lists at the back of the room before you leave today. We will then arrange the appropriate visits for next week.

Thank you for your help.

PAPERWORK

Please make sure you have collected and filled in your admissions forms (if you have not already done so) and return to the school office.

Remember that we need to photocopy your child’s birth certificate and a proof of address (council tax bill) as proof of identity.

Make sure you pick up your ‘Parent information booklet’ which has a range of useful information for you.

Thank you!

WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH

YOU